Unreasonable demands stopped formation of Perikatan-BN Pahang govt, says Saifuddin

PETALING JAYA: Unreasonable demands from Barisan Nasional prevented the formation of a Perikatan Nasional-BN Pahang government, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah (pic).

The Pahang Perikatan chairman and Indera Mahkota MP said despite Perikatan winning more seats, Barisan asked for the mentri besar post and seven executive council seats.

"The party that received the largest mandate from the people of Pahang is Perikatan. That’s the will of the people and should be respected.

"From the beginning, Perikatan was ready to negotiate to form the Pahang government but not with Pakatan Harapan, which brings an agenda that is contrary to the interests of the people," said Saifuddin in a Facebook post on Sunday (Nov 27).

Perikatan won 17 state seats, followed by BN with 16 and Pakatan with eight.

“Barisan demanded the position of mentri besar and wanted seven executive council seats, and only agreed to give Perikatan one exco seat even though they are a minority party with no mandate," he said.

On Saturday (Nov 26), Pakatan officially agreed to throw its weight behind Barisan to form the state government.

State Pakatan chairman Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari said they had agreed to unanimously support the formation of the Pahang state government with Barisan.

“This is based on the total number of seats won by Barisan (16) and Pakatan (eight), which has exceeded the simple majority.

“We hope that a new Pahang state government can be formed post-GE15 to ensure a smooth administration for the interest of the rakyat,” he said in a statement on Saturday.

The eight Pahang Pakatan assemblymen had previously signed statutory declarations pledging support for state Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail as mentri besar.

Pahang had ended up with a hung assembly when none of the three major coalitions secured enough seats to form the state government.